(AFP) Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew will visit Malaysia next month to bolster often acrimonious relations, Straits Times Television reported late yesterday.

The four-day visit from September 2 will follow up Lee's visit here in August last year, the report said.

Lee, Singapore's founding father and former prime minister, will lead a delegation of ministers and officials and will focus on improving often testy ties between the neighbouring nations, it said.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will also visit Singapore next month to deliver a public lecture and meet with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, the report added.

Singapore and Malaysia have often been at odds since they split from a post-independence federation in 1965, with Lee and Mahathir trading barbs in the past.